So I was on Facebook this morning and came across an article link that I found interesting. I found this interesting because the content was about juice. I love juice. ALL KINDS OF JUICE! It made me pretty upset because some of the juices I love were mentioned. The upside to this article is that they DO provide healthy alternatives (though not all are readily available in Canada – poo!). Now, don’t get me wrong. I know unless the juice is 100% FRUIT juice that it’ll be packed with sugar but I don’t read labels and therefore what I don’t know won’t hurt me. I know now. Now I’m hurt. So it’s my mission today to hurt other juice lovers, too! lol …. Let’s all be pissed off together, shall we!

We’ve scoured restaurant menus and supermarket aisles to uncover the best and worst drinks in America. Below, we reveal the six worst juices at the supermarket, and for each one we’ve provide a healthier alternative.

Think of your all-time favorite rock song: Hey Jude, London Calling, Smells Like Teen Spirit, whatever. Now imagine that the next time you crank it up, all the guitar riffs will be replaced by violins. Kinda weak, right?

Well that’s akin to what happens when you turn a fruit into fruit juice: You still have the flavor, but you don’t have the grit, the substance, the power. Even the very best fruit juice isn’t as nutritious as the fruit it originally came from, because the fiber that makes a piece of fruit so filling has been stripped away: Instead of filling your belly like an apple or an orange, juice just passes through your gastrointestinal tract like a little stream of sugar. It’s like listening to “Hey Jude” without the “Na-na-na na” part at the end. The sweet melody is intact, but the soul is lost. So as a rule, always choose the original version (that would be the fruit) over the Muzak version (that would be the juice).

That doesn’t mean juice is a terrible choice—after all, it’s still a great way to get your daily quota of vitamins and minerals. Problem is, a lot of what food marketers try to sell us as “juice” is about as healthy for you as, well, being chased down a highway in a white Ford Bronco. Manufacturers have found that mixing a lot of water and sugar with a tiny bit of fruit flavoring and calling it “juice” is a great way to get health-conscious consumers to pony up the bucks for the liquid equivalent of Skittles.

To put together our new book, Drink This, Not That!, we scoured restaurant menus and supermarket aisles to uncover the best and worst drinks in America. Below, we reveal the six worst juices at the supermarket, and for each one we’ve provide a healthier alternative. Or, as the Beatles might say, we took a bad juice, and made it better. Just call it “Hey Juice!”

Ocean Spray makes a whole line of cranberry juice blends, but there’s only one thing you need to know: They’re all polluted with unruly loads of added sugar. The first two ingredients here are water and sugar, the hallmark of an inferior bottle. In fact, the best juices in this line have only 27 percent juice. This one? A paltry 15 percent. Go with Ocean Spray’s Cranenergy line instead. Compared to Cran-Apple it delivers slightly more real juice, a far weightier package of vitamins, and just over a fourth as many calories. (You’re far better off eating your vitamins than drinking them. Here are 40 foods with scientifically proven superpowers.)

The flowering bouquet of fruit on the outside of this carton makes it appear to be just one step down from a smoothie, but in truth, it’s just one step up from Sunny Delight. Regardless of what Welch’s wants you to think, this juice is made with only 25 percent real fruit, and with this many calories in each cup, you should expect nothing less than 100 percent. Go with Bolthouse Farms 50/50 Berry blend and you’ll trade out the sucrose for an antioxidant- and flavor-rich blend of purple carrots, blackberries, pomegranates, and blueberries.

In 99 percent cases, lemonade contains between 10 and 15 percent lemon juice, meaning that 85 to 90 percent of the calories are added as table sugar or high fructose corn syrup. The reason we pinned Minute Maid as the worst lemonade is that with this bottle, they’ve dropped the lemon juice concentration down to 3 percent, and at the same time, jacked the sugar level up to soda-like proportions. In fact, this bottle has more sugar than a same-sized bottle of Coca-Cola, not to mention a bevy of preservatives, fillers, and artificial colors. The only lemonade we’ve found that can legitimately call itself “juice” is the one below by R.W. Knudson. It replaces the added sugars with a blend of apple and grape juices. (Of course, if you’re looking to lose weight, diet is only half the equation. For the other half, check out our list of the 100 best fitness tips ever written.)

With a name that references two fruits, you might expect this bottle to provide a respectable dose of real juice. Unfortunately that’s not the case. The only juice this bottle carries is used as a coloring agent, which means every gram of sugar here is added during processing. That puts it right alongside soda as one of the worst beverages at the supermarket. Cut calories by looking for water-based beverages that use juice as a sweetener and flavoring, like the one from Olade below. The few calories it has come from a blend of lemon, pinapple, mango, and passion fruit. (Speaking of overblown packaging claims, check our roundup of “health” foods that aren’t.)

It’s hard to say which is worse, the fact that this bottle has as much sugar as six scoops of Edy’s Slow Churned Rocky Road Ice Cream, or the fact that it looks legit but contains only 30 percent real juice. The thing is, even if this bottle weren’t teeming with high fructose corn syrup, it would still be loaded with sugar. Grapes produce the most sugar-loaded juice at the supermarket—even a 10-ounce bottle of 100 percent grape juice carries more than 200 calories. If you like rich, dark juices, try the one below from Bossa Nova. The acai fruit from which it’s made is one of the most antioxidant-rich fruits on the planet.

These hulking calorie cannons—5 percent juice, 95 percent sugar water—have the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar! (That makes the 1,800-calorie salad look downright nutritious.) They’re sold at gas stations and convenience stores across America for the low, low price of 99 cents, making this quite possibly the cheapest source of empty calories in the country. Earn more flavor in fewer calories by switching to V8-Fusion instead. The company makes a reasonable line of regular blends and an even better line of light juices.

Ladies. If you polish your own nails then you need … absolutely NEED to have this product in your kit. When you’re pressed for time (as I am right now) but you want cute nails without chips, dents and fingerprints (lol) you have to find a dry fast top coat that will get the job done in minutes. Seche Vite is that top coat. I discovered it via a good friend of mine (HOLLA Linda!!!) and she was kind enough to send me some in the mail as a present (love her!) and I was skeptical (I’ve tried dry fast top coats and polishes and they just didn’t work) but this one DOES. Within 5 minutes your nails are dry to the touch. Another five and they are chip and peel resistant. I’ve tried it. I swear by it.

The smell is a little strong … but if you’re used to polish smells you may not find it so bad. But for the 2-3 mins it takes to apply it to your nails, stomach it. The polish’s consistency is thick and almost serum-like but goes on smooth and without air bubbles and fail. It really is the perfect top coat for your nails. It leaves them smooth, silky and even helps to strengthen them. Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat runs about $5 -$10 for a bottle but you can ALWAYS find it on sale at various shops and websites if you like to purchase things online. Visit Seche Vite’s homepage :: here ::

Models and actresses give real women like you and I a BAD idea of what a real woman is supposed to look like. A real woman is soft and has curves and weighs more than 100lbs (unless you are super short – lol). A real woman is healthy and looks like it. She has cellulite and dimples and rumples and spots and a pimple or two. She’s not perfect and flawless and airbrushed until kingdom come. I GET that its the industry. I understand that but I can’t lie; I love that women are taking a stand. Shit is groundbreaking! It’s so important for our young girls to have positive body image or else they will grow up hating themselves. I think this is great and wanted to share this news story with my readers. Enjoy.

And I think regardless of Jennifer Hawkin’s flaws she STILL looks absolutely gorgeous! Sure, she may not be the typical woman (as she is still beautiful and thin and blonde and whatever else) but so what? How many women would do such a thing? In HER line of work .. to forgo airbrushing as a model and show her flaws is a big deal. I rate that. And it’s not just HER I’m talking about. I’m also referring to the other woman in the report.

I’m extremely happy this law has finally come to pass! I’m SOOOO very against texting, calling and whatever else while driving. While this is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t eradicate the ENTIRE problem. Sure, being occupied by dialing and texting is a major issue contributing to accidents … but what about being distracted PERIOD? It’s not just the fact that you’re taking your eyes off the road, its also the fact that your judgement and perception is skewed because your attention is with whomever you are speaking to on the phone.

It’s important to understand that not all of us are people that can do two things at once. Many people cant even chew gum and walk nevermind operate a vehicle and talk on the phone.

I just hope people take this law seriously and understand the consequences. It shouldn’t take a fender bender, or worse a DEATH for someone to realize how dangerous this is. You could be the safest driver in the world but if someone ELSE isn’t paying attention you could lose your life or the life of someone you love.

PLEASE drive responsibly and don’t take this issue lightly.

An Ontario law came into effect Monday making it illegal for drivers to use hand-held cellphones, BlackBerrys and other electronic devices while behind the wheel.

Drivers are forbidden to use hand-held devices to talk, text or email while behind the wheel, or to use portable video games or DVD players.

The only exception to the ban is a 911 call.

“This law is about keeping your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel,” Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said at a news conference in Toronto Monday. “We need to prevent these unnecessary road accidents and I believe this law will do just that.”

Hands-free cellphones remain legal, and global positioning systems are allowed if they’re secured to the dashboard.

The Ministry of Transport said the ban is needed because driver distraction is a factor in 20 per cent of all road accidents. Bradley said one U.S. study found texting boosted the risk of a collision 23 times.

Starting Feb. 1, drivers could face fines of up to $500 if they’re caught violating the ban. There are no demerit points attached to the law.

‘Positive step forward’

Toronto police Insp. Gary Meisner, speaking on behalf of Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said Monday that police are looking forward to the legislation, which he described as “a positive step forward and an important one for improving public safety.”

Police will be warning motorists for the first three months to stay off the phone instead of handing out tickets. But drivers can still be charged under existing dangerous or careless driving laws, which have fines of up to $1,000, six demerit points, a driver’s licence suspension and possible jail time.

A survey released in September showed that about 92 per cent of Ontario drivers intended to obey the law.

Newfoundland and Labrador became the first province to ban the use of hand-held cellphones in 2003, while Quebec and Nova Scotia both moved earlier this year to stop drivers from using hand-held cellphones. Similar legislation has also been introduced in British Columbia.

Saskatchewan and Alberta have also announced their intentions to table similar legislation this fall.

More than 50 countries and jurisdictions around the world have banned cellphone use while driving.